LWC pays more than $560 million in COVID-19 benefit payments
Aware of the system-issues the high influx of weekly recertifications has caused because of the number of individuals accessing the online portal at the same time, the Louisiana Works Commission (LWC), is implementing a tiered system for claimants to file their weekly certifications based on the last digit of their social security number beginning Sunday, April 26. A breakdown of who files when is below:
- Claimants whose social security number ends in 0, 1, 2 or 3 should file on Sundays
- Claimants whose social security number ends in 4, 5, or 6 should file on Mondays
- Claimants whose social security number ends in 7, 8, or 9 should file on Tuesdays
- All claimants will be accepted Wednesdays through Saturday
Since March 22, the state agency has paid more than $561 million in total benefits to over 302,000 Louisianans whose employment has been impacted during the unprecedented COVID-19 event. For comparison in all of 2019, LWC paid just under $152 million to 103,000 claimants.
On April 13, Louisiana became one of two states paying Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), clearing the way for 1099 and self-employed individuals to receive both PUA and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC)/$600 weekly benefits. Since the LWC received the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on April 13, the LWC has paid out more than $507 million.
“We are continuing to work around the clock to make sure each and every citizen receive all benefits for which they are eligible,” said Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Ava Dejoie. “The processing of large payment files and on-going programming is part of our continuing efforts to meet the historical demand for benefits, but people are receiving benefits. The LWC will never stop working to improve our systems to make filing as easy as possible.”
The LWC has already added servers and additional operating capacity twice before the current upgrade and is currently in the process of adding another server to its network to be able to handle more online volume.
